


An Angel is Always Looking Out For You

by TryingNormal42



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dean thinks Cas is a handsome Angel, F/F, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Going to Hell, I'm Not Ashamed, I'm having too much fucking fun writing this, M/M, My First Destiel Fanfic, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-07
Updated: 2014-11-16
Packaged: 2018-02-19 10:04:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2384300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TryingNormal42/pseuds/TryingNormal42
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twenty-year-old Andrea Moss isn’t just your average Hunter, she was born from an Angel and a Human. So you can only imagine what happens when she picks Dean Winchester up on the side of the road four months after his death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Brother Rising (4.01)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we learn that Felix might be a dog, Andy can smite things, and Dean comes back from Hell.

* * *

 

“Oh, fuck me!”

Twenty-year-old Andrea Moss quickly loads another rock salt bullet into her Smith and Wesson 4006 and spins around, pulling the trigger at the black-eyed Demon coming her way.

“Felix, cover me!” Andy shouts, and her white Samoyed launches herself at a second demon, tearing at the Demon's throat with her teeth. "Nice one!"

A sound comes from behind her and she spins around again, right into a blond demon's fist. Her gun slides across the dirty floor of the barn as she falls to the ground, the Demon lunging forward to wrap his hands around her throat. She struggles for a moment before her hand finds the Demon’s face and engulfs it in a bright white light, allowing her to breathe again.

There was a scream and suddenly a girl's voice shouts, "Where the fuck you think you're goin’? Get back here, bitch. No one hurts my Andy."

"Felix . . ." Andy groans.

"Just a minute, Andy," Felix says, and Andy turns her head just in time to see a naked redhead slam a bloodied demon to the ground. "So, Mr. Demon, what's new?"

"I ain't tellin' you nuthin'!" it shouts as Andy slowly gets to her feet.

"The fuck you aren't," Felix growls as the Demon tries to scramble away. "Whaddya know about the Winchester brothers?" The Demon's black eyes widen and Felix grins. "Come on, my girl Andy has been hearin’ some interesting’ things from the Angels lately about Dean Winchester. Something's goin' down in Hell an’ we wanna know what. Capisce?"

The Demon starts to shake its head when Andy appears, pointing the muzzle of her gun between it’s eyes. "Alright, alright!" the Demon shouts. "Apparently some rogue Angel went into Hell a few hours ago but no one knows what he came out with."

Andy glances over at Felix. “Must be Dean. I heard they were cookin’ up somethin’ big for him after he died.”

The Demon stares at her. “You’re talking about Dean Winchester . . . aren’t you? Are you--are you saying that an Angel is pulling Dean Winchester out of He--”

“Bye,” Andy says cheerfully, pulling the trigger on her gun and blowing the thing’s face off. However, the next thing she knew she’s blinking awake in her powder blue ‘78/’79 AMC Pacer, a friggin’ crick in her damn neck. She groans.

“Well, howdy there partner, nice tah know you’re still livin’,” a voice says from the driver’s seat.

Andy turns and blinks back sleep to see Felix, driving down a desolate road, all dressed up in a yellow sundress and cowboy boots. “Hey, Fee,” she mumbles, “what’s up?”

“On our way to pick up Dean Winchester I believe.”

“Awesome,” Andy says, rubbing her temples. “How long was I out for this time?”

“Well, Dean was buried in Illinois, right?”

“Right. So?”

“We’re in Pontiac now.”

“What? How is that possible? We were just in Tennessee.”

“True. But, come on, you know I’ve got a lead foot.”

Andy suddenly sits up, squinting out the windshield. “Whoa, what the hell is that?”

Felix slows the car and squints at the figure walking in the distance, flashing a smile at Andy. “Well, looks like we’ve found Dean Winchester.”

They pulled up beside Dean a few minutes later and Fee rolls down her window so Andy can grin at him. “Hey there mister, we’ve been lookin’ for ya.”

His green eyes flick between the both of them. "Yeah, and who the fuck are you?"

"I'm just the one pickin' you up after your nice joyride in Hell, Dean. Fee, get the door wouldja." Felix reaches behind her to pop the door open for him, and Andy cocks her head at it. "Get in, Dean, and we'll explain on the way."

"The way to where?" he snaps.

"That abandoned gas station up the road," Felix says simply. "Now come on, Mr. I’m-So-Special-I-Got-Pulled-From-Purgatory, we don't got all day."

* * *

 

Andy watches as Dean rolls his plaid shirt around his hand and slams it through the window of the gas station. After opening the door, he instantly crosses over to the little mini mart fridge and pulls out a bottle of water, gulping it down. However, when he walks over to the newspaper stand and picks one up, he’s shocked at what he sees.

“September.”

“Thursday, September eighteenth,” Andy says, and Dean’s green eyes snap to hers. “Yep, you’re readin’ that right. It’s not a typo.”

“But that's four months ago,” Dean replies.

“You _died_ four months ago,” Andy tells him.

Dean drops the newspaper to race for the bathroom, and when Andy doesn’t hear any retching sounds she knows he’s not getting sick, but she can still hear the water running. She walks slowly towards the door and opens it to see him pulling up his shirt. “Whoa, hot bod,” she jokes but he doesn’t seem to hear her. His expression changes in the mirror and Andy realizes he’s hallucinating from the way his eyes dart across his chest, probably imagining the slashes that had once been in his skin. She crosses over to him as he drops his shirt, pausing for a moment before turning his left shoulder to the mirror and pulling up his shirt sleeve to reveal a large, raw handprint that had been branded into his shoulder. “Holy shit,” Andy breathes and Dean jumps, dropping his shirt sleeve.

He frowns at the brunette in the mirror. “How long you been there?”

“Long enough to see your swanky new tat, my friend,” she replies.

“Where’s your friend?” Dean asks.

“She’s gathering supplies. Ya know, food, water and junk like that.”

“Oooh, hey, Andy, come look,” Felix’s voice calls out. “They have _Busty Asian Beauties_ on the magazine rack. And what a rack it is, holy shit.”

Andy’s face flushes with embarrassment as Dean chuckles. “Fee, I thought I told you not to look at stuff like that.” She races out of the bathroom, Dean on her heels, to find Felix flipping through the adult magazine as she sits on the mini mart counter.

Snatching it from the redhead’s hands, she shoves it into Dean’s, who grins and goes, “Awesome.”

Andy rolls her eyes at him, hands on her hips as she stares at Felix. “Well, what do you have to say for yourself? When we laid down the rules, that was one of mine. You broke it.”

“You have rules about reading saucy magazines?” Dean asks in surprise, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, _excuse me_ , Dean Winchester, for not wanting my girlfriend to read trash like that.”

Dean’s green eyes go wide. “Girlfriend? You two are lesbians?”

Felix nods, dipping her head to kiss Andy on the lips. “What, you weren’t planning on asking either of us out, were you?”

“N-no, I--Forget it. Just . . . forget it.” He moves behind the counter and hits a button on the register, snapping his fingers in satisfaction when it pops open. But, just as he starts to pocket the cash, the tv to his left flicks on to show only static. “What the--?” he mumbles, and glances over at the girls, who look just as confused. His hand reaches out to shut it off--only to have the radio to his right turn on, crackling with white noise.

Felix scrambles off the counter, her eyes wide. “What the fuck is going on?”

Not wasting another moment, Dean instantly grabs a carton of salt off the shelves and begins to pour it on the windowsill. A high-pitched, single tone begins and he claps a hand over his left ear, continuing to pour the salt with his right hand. Felix drops to her knees, clutching her ears in pain, and Andy stumbles backward at the sudden disorientation. As the sound continued, the carton of salt falls from Dean’s hand and he drops to his knees, groaning in agony. A second later the window above his and Felix’s head shatters, showering them with pieces of glass, and they drop to the floor.

Andy presses her back into the wall as she slides down it, the voice speaking in her head much too loud. “Please, Castiel,” she moans as more glass shatters around them. “Please, _stop_.”

Then all of a sudden it’s quiet, the high-pitched tone now gone, and Dean looks up, green eyes wide.

“What . . . was _that?”_

* * *

“What on earth are you doing?”

Dean rolls his eyes, punching in the numbers of one of Sam’s cells as he lifts the receiver to his ear. “What does it look like, Andy? I’m callin’ Sam, gonna have him come get me.”

“He’s not gonna pick up,” Felix says as she flips through a National Geographic magazine.

“And why not?”

“‘Cause they’re all disconnected.”

“ _We’re sorry. You have reached a number that has been disconnected_ ,” comes the automated voice, and Dean purses his lips before slamming the receiver down.

“Told you,” Felix sings. “We’ve been trying to get a hold of him, too.”

“Oh, shut up,” he snaps, inserting another coin into the slot and lifting the receiver again. He dials another number and it rings once before being picked up; the voice he hears on the other end sounds like heaven.

“Yeah?”

“Bobby?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s me.”

“Who’s me?”

“Dean.”

The dial tone immediately sounds off in Dean’s ear and he hangs up the phone, popping in another coin to redial Bobby’s number.

“Who is this?” Bobby all but growls.

“Bobby, listen to me,” Dean says.

“This ain’t funny. Call again, I’ll kill ya.”

The dial tone sounds again and Dean lets the phone drop from his hand, turning to the girls with a dejected look on his face.

“Well you can’t expect Bobby to be all warm and cuddly, Dean,” Andy tells him. “You’ve been dead for four months.”

“Yeah, I know. I just . . .” He runs a hand through his cropped brown hair with a sigh. “I just thought if he heard my voice that he’d--ah, no, forget it.”

“Personally I think you’d have better luck seein’ him face-to-face,” Felix says absently, flipping her magazine upside down and squinting at it as she brings it closer to her face.

Dean glances over at Andy with a grin and she shakes her head. “Oh no, nuh-uh, no way. I think Bobby has quite enough issues right now without you showing up at his door.”

“I can hotwire cars, ya know.”

“Dammit, Dean, I said no.” Dean puts on his best pouty face and stuck out his bottom lip. “Fuck you and your puppy dog eyes, Dean Winchester--I mean it. No is my final answer.” He stares at her with those big green eyes, and she can feel her resistance breaking down. “Alright, _fine_ ,” she says after a moment. “We’ll drive you over to Bobby’s.”

“Yes! Alright!” He grins boyishly, bouncing out of the phone booth as he heads for Andy’s car, and shouts over his shoulder, “Felix, you comin’ or what?”

“Shotgun!” the redhead shouts, racing after him, and Andy laughs as they begin to argue over who’s going to sit in the passenger seat.

* * *

Hours later, as soon as they pull up in front of Bobby’s house in Sioux Falls, South Carolina, Dean flew out of the backseat of the AMC Pacer and up the stairs of the porch, the girls quickly following behind him.

“He’s gonna freak out,” Andy hisses at him.

“He’ll know it’s me,” Dean shoots back as he knocks on the door. It opens a few seconds later to reveal a five-foot-eleven stocky man with a beard, wearing a green trucker cap and black plaid button-up shirt over a red t-shirt, jeans and boots. Dean smiles cautiously at the evident suspicion on Bobby’s face. “Surprise.”

Bobby stumbles back. “I, I don’t--”

“Yeah, me neither,” he says, stepping through the doorway. “But here I am.” The next thing he knows, Bobby lunges at him with a silver knife and Dean grabs his arm, twisting it as they crash into the living room before the older male quickly breaks the grip to backhand Dean. “Bobby, it’s me!”

“My ass!”

As they stumble into the kitchen, Dean grabs the closest thing he can find and shoves a chair between them, holding up his hands in defense.”Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! Your name is Robert Steven Singer. You became a Hunter after your wife got possessed, and . . . You’re about the closest thing I have to a father. Bobby! It’s me.”

Lowering the knife, Bobby slowly walks forward to place a gentle hand on Dean’s shoulder--right before lunging with the knife, Dean quickly disarming him.

“I am not a shapeshifter!” he exclaims.

“Then you’re a Revenant!” Bobby snaps, and Dean shoves him away, grabbing the knife.

“Alright. If I was either, would I do this--with a silver knife?” Dean rolls up his left sleeve and grimaces as he slice his arm above the elbow with the knife. A line of blood appears and Bobby’s eyes widen.

“Dean?” he mumbles.

“That’s what he’s been trying to tell you,” Andy says, exasperated.

Bobby glances over his shoulder at the twenty-year-old with a quizzical look, but quickly turns back to Dean and rushes forward to grab Dean in a hug. Dean hugs him tightly, relief on his face. “It’s . . . it’s good to see you, boy,” he says when they part.

“Yeah, you, too,” Dean replies.

“But . . . how did you bust out?”

“I don’t know. I just, uh, woke up in a pine box and--”

“Wait, Bobby!” Andy cries, but it’s too late.

The holy water splashes Dean in the face and he sputters, “I’m not a Demon either, ya know.”

“Sorry, can’t be too careful.” Bobby grins sheepishly, tossing Dean a towel as they move further into the house. “And who the heck are these two?” Bobby snatches a book from Felix’s hands and grumbles, “Don’t touch what ain’t yours.”

“Oh. Um, Bobby, this is Andy and Felix.” The girls flash smiles at Bobby, who eyes them skeptically. “They picked me up after I . . . after I came back.”

“And they’re Hunters?”

“You bet your ass we are!” Felix exclaims with a grin.

“Fee! Seriously, stop,” Andy hissed, and sticks her hand out toward Bobby with smile. “Sorry, Felix doesn’t how to talk properly. I’m Andrea Moss and, yes, we’re Hunters.”

“How come I ain’t ever seen you before?” Bobby asks.

She shrugs. “Ehh, Fee and I like to do our own thing.”

“Plus, Andy has problems with authority,” Felix adds, and the brunette shoots her a glare.

“No, I do not, Fee.”

“Yeah, you do.”

“Lesbians, please, calm yourselves,” Dean jokes.

“But this don’t make a lick of sense,” Bobby says.

“Yeah, you’re preachin’ to the choir.”

“Dean. Your chest was ribbons, your insides were slop. And you’ve been buried _four months_. Even if you could slip out of hell and back into your meat suit--”

“He’d look like a Thriller video reject,” Andy says. “That’s correct.”

“What do you remember?” Bobby asks him.

“Not much. I remember I was Hellhound’s chew toy, and then . . . lights out. Sam’s number isn’t working either. He’s, uh . . . he’s not . . .”

“Oh, he’s alive, as far I know.”

“As far as you know?” Andy says curiously. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You don’t know?” Dean asks her. “You’re the one who told me his cell was disconnected.”

“That’s ‘cause I’ve been tryin’ to get ahold of him too.”

“And why have you been trying to get ahold of Sam?” Bobby wonders, sitting down on the couch.

“He’s a Winchester. When a Winchester who isn’t dead drops of the face of the earth for four months people tend to notice. We’ve also tracked him to a series of Demon killings where the human vessels come out of it alive.”

“Seriously?” Dean says in surprise, and glances over at Bobby. “You know about this?”

“Look, I haven’t talked to Sam in months, okay?”

“You’re kidding. You just let him go off by himself?”

“He was dead set on it,” Bobby shrugs.

“Bobby, you shoulda been lookin’ after him.”

“I tried. These last months haven’t been exactly easy, ya know,” the older man says. “For him or me. We had to bury you.”

“Why did you bury him anyway?” Andy asks. “I thought Hunters were big on the whole salt and burn thing. Ya know, a proper Hunters burial.”

“Sam . . . wouldn’t have it,” Bobby replies.

“‘Betcha you’re glad Sam won on that one, eh Dean?” Felix laughs, and he nods. “But why?”

“He said Dean would need his body when he got him back somehow. That’s all he said.”

“What d’you mean?” Dean asks suspiciously.

“He was quiet. Real quiet. And then he just took off. Wouldn’t return my calls. I've tried to find him, but he doesn’t want to be found.”

“Same here,” Andy tells them. “We couldn’t seem to get a bead on him either.”

“Oh, dammit, Sammy,” Dean mumbles and rubs his chin.

“What?” Bobby asks.

“Oh, he got me home okay. But whatever he did, it is some bad mojo.”

“What makes you so sure?” Andy says.

“You guys shoulda seen the grave site. It was like a nuke went off. And then there was this . . . this force, this presence, I don’t know, but it blew past Andy, Felix and I at a fill-up joint. And then this.” Dean strips off his jacket and pulls up his shirt sleeve to reveal the brand.

Bobby snaps to his feet. “What in the hell?”

“It was like a Demon yanked me out. Or rode me out.” Felix snickers and Dean shoots her a glare.

“But why?” Bobby asks.

“To hold up their end of the bargain, I suppose.”

“You think Sam made a deal with a Demon?” Andy says.

Dean glances over at her and shrugs. “It’s what I would have done.”


	2. Sam and the Hanky-Panky (4.01)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which we learn Sam apparently gets laid, Andy reveals why she became a Hunter, and the Winchester brothers reunite.

* * *

From her spot on Bobby’s couch, Andy watches as Dean paces the kitchen before he presses the phone to his ear.

“Yeah, hi,” his voice says. “I have a cell phone account with you guys, and uh, I lost my phone. I was wondering if you could turn the GPS on for me.” He paces over to the fridge. “Yeah. Name’s Wedge Antilles.” Bobby glances over at him from the kitchen table. “Social is 2-4-7-4.” Dean paces again. “Thank you.” Dean hangs up the phone and crosses over to the laptop on the table.

“How’d you know he’d use that name?” Felix asks curiously.

“You kiddin’ me, Felix? What don’t I know about that kid?” Dean types in the address for Arc Mobile in the web browser before picking up one of the many empty liquor bottles scattered around. “Hey, Bobby? What’s the deal with the liquor store? What, your parents out of town or something?”

“Like I said. Last few months ain’t been all that easy.”

Dean holds his gaze for a moment. “Right,” he mumbles and after a moment, the laptop beeps and the display shows a city map with a blue arrow pointing to a star.

The locator reads: Phone Location: _236 Adams Road. Pontiac, Illinois_.

“Sam’s in Pontiac, Illinois,” Dean murmurs in surprise.

“What?” Andy says, getting to her feet. “He’s where?”

“That’s right where you were planted,” Bobby says.

“And right where you popped up,” Felix replies. “Hell of a coincidence, don’t ya think?”

* * *

Dean, Bobby, Andy and Felix all walk down a dingy hallway in the Astoria Motel later that night in Pontiac, where Dean knocks on the door marked with the number 207 inside a red heart. A few seconds later a beautiful young woman with dark hair, who was wearing nothing but a tank top and underwear, opens the door.

She looks at them expectantly. “So where is it?”

Dean glances at Bobby and the girls, confused. “Where’s what?”

“The pizza . . . that takes two guys and a pair of lesbians to deliver?”

“Hey,” Andy says automatically. “I resent that.”

“But we are lesbians, Andy,” Felix whispers, and the brunette glares at her.

“Shut up, Fee.”

“I think we have the wrong room,” Dean tells the woman.

Sam suddenly appears behind the woman, wearing a grey t-shirt and jeans, his expression grim and focused. “Hey, is . . .” At the sight of Dean, Sam freezes, his eyes glancing between Dean and Bobby.

Dean swallows hard. “Heya, Sammy,” he mumbles. The woman steps aside as he enters the room, but as he gets close Sam lunges at him with a knife and the woman screams. As he blocks his little brother’s attack, Bobby rushes forward to pull Sam away, gripping him around the shoulders as he continues to struggle.

“Who are you?!” Sam shouts.

“Like you didn’t do this?!” Dean shouts back.

“Do what?!”

“It’s him,” Bobby tells Sam. “It’s him. I’ve been through this already, it’s really him . . .”

Sam stares at his brother as the struggle to fight slowly drains from his body. “What . . .”

“I know. I look fantastic, right?” Dean says with a slight grin as he cautiously advances toward Sam.

Bobby lets go of Sam, who seems to be on the verge of tears, and the youngest Winchester brother reaches forward to pull Dean into a desperate hug. They embraced for several seconds, heavy with emotion, and Bobby looks on with tears in his eyes. Sam pushes his brother back to arm’s length and the woman stares at the both of them, confused.

“Are you two like . . . together?” the woman asks, and Felix makes a sound of disgust.

“Ohmigod, gross,” the redhead exclaims. “Wincest? You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Sam glances over at the woman, almost like he’s just remembered she was there, and says: “What? No. No. He’s my brother.”

"I mean, I like Sam in that brotherly love kind of way, but I don't go for guys that are related to me," Dean jokes.

“Uh . . . got it. I . . . I guess,” she says, though any of them can tell she doesn't get it at all. “Look, I should probably go.”

“Yeah,” Sam says with a nod. “May-maybe that’s a good idea.” And a few minutes later, now dressed in a white button-down shirt, Sam opens the door for the woman, who is now dressed in an adorable blue plaid shirt.

“So, call me.”

“Yeah. Yeah, sure thing, Kathy.”

She frowns. “Kristy,” she tells him, disappointed.

“Right,” Sam mumbles, shutting the door as she walks away.

Dean stares at his brother, arms crossed against his chest. He and Bobby cut a suspicious glance at Sam. “So tell me,” he asks, “what’d it cost?”

Sam cracks a grin. “That girl? I don’t pay, Dean.”

“That’s not funny, Sam--”

“It’s a little funny,” Felix says, and Dean sends a glare over his shoulder, silencing the redhead.

“To bring me back, Sam,” Dean says. “What’d it cost? Was it your soul, or was it something worse?”

“You . . . you think I made a deal?” Sam stammers, eyes wide with shock.

“That’s exactly what we think,” Bobby tells him.

“Well, I didn’t.”

“Don’t you lie to me,” Dean growls.

“I’m not lying.”

He advances toward his brother. “So what now, I’m off the hook and you’re on, is that it?”

“Dean,” Andy says.

“You’re some Demon’s bitch-boy?”

“Dean,” Andy repeats.

“I didn’t want to be saved like this!”

“Dean!” Andy shouts, and the Hunter spins around to face her, green eyes glowing with anger.

“What.”

“He’s not lying, Dean.”

“There’s no other way that this could have gone down, Andy,” Dean exclaims. He grabs Sam by the front of shirt, getting in his face. “Now tell the truth!”

“He is, Dean, I know he is! I--”

“I tried everything,” Sam snaps, breaking out of his brother’s grip. “That’s the truth. I tried opening the Devil’s Gate. Hell, I tried to bargain, Dean, but no Demon would deal, all right? You were rotting in hell for months. For months, and I couldn’t stop it. So I’m sorry it wasn’t me, all right? Dean, I’m sorry.”

Dean relents, looking slightly embarrassed. “It’s okay, Sammy. You don’t have to apologize, I believe you.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m gladdened that Sam’s soul remains intact, but it does raise a sticky question,” Bobby finally says after a moment.

“Yeah,” Andy agrees. “If Sam didn’t pull you out of Hell, then who did?”

“And how did you know he was telling the truth?” Dean asks.

“Who are you anyway?” Sam asks.

She sticks out her hand. “The name’s Andrea Moss, but I go by Andy. The redhead over there is my girlfriend, Felix.”

“Isn’t Felix a boy’s name?” Sam asks, raising an eyebrow.

“I happen to like Felix, thank you,” the redhead says sharply, and Sam holds his hands up in surrender.

“It’s nice. Totally nice, I swear.”

“How ‘bout a drink, Sam?” Andy chuckles. “Maybe with somethin’ in our bellies we can put our heads together an’ figure somethin’ out.”

“Yeah,” he nods. “I’ll go get some.”

“I’ll help!” Felix chimes, bouncing out of the room after Sam.

Dean and Bobby have taken over the couch, so Andy plops down on the bed, sprawling out. “This bed is not at all comfy,” she utters after a moment of stillness. “How’d Sam have any hanky-panky with that cute girl when this mattress is as hard a brick?”

Dean snickers and Bobby drops his eyes to the floor, shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

“What?” she says. “It’s a legit question. No girl likes having sex on a bed that might give her back pain afterwards. Trust me, I should know.”

“That have anything to do with Felix?” Dean asks with a grin.

Andy lifts her head from the pillow and her eyes narrow. “It might,” she finally tells him, letting her head fall back. “And it might not. You’ll never know, Dean Winchester.”

“Hey, uh, Andy, I’ve been meanin’ to ask . . . How’d you know Sam was tellin’ the truth?” Bobby asks her.

With a sigh she sits up, wrapping her arms around her knees as she brings them up to her chest. “How’d I know?” Bobby nods and, after a slight hesitation, Dean does too. “Ever since I was born I’ve been able to tell if someone was lying or not. I don’t know how, or why, but I can just look at a person and just . . . know.”

“That must have put the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus in a whole new light then, huh?” Dean chuckles.

“Yeah, just a little,” she laughs, but it trails off as her eyes lift up to the ceiling. “But I’d pretend, though, for my mom. It made her happy.”

“Your mom,” Bobby says. “Is she . . .”

“Yeah,” Andy murmurs. “Demons attacked our house when I was fourteen. She knew what they were but I, uh, I didn’t. They tied us up, asked questions I didn’t understand, and when my mom didn’t give them the answers they wanted . . . they, uh, they killed her. I don’t remember what happened after, I think I blacked out, but when I woke up the Demons were gone and so was my mom. Been a Hunter ever since.”

“Damn,” Dean mumbles, “that’s rough. Sorry about your mom.”

“She’s with the Angels now, in her own personal Heaven, so I’m not worried,” Andy replies. Dean snorts, muttering the word, “Angels,” and her eyes find his. “Do you not believe in Angels, Dean Winchester?”

“Got no reason to.”

A smile spreads on Andy’s lips as the door opens and Sam and Felix walk back in with a case of Bud Lite. “You might want to rethink your answer,” she tells him.

Dean’s eyebrows scrunch together and he opens his mouth to speak, but the presence of Sam passing out bottles of beer stops him from saying anything. Sam sits across from him and Bobby, on the edge of the bed, and Felix joins Andy on the bed.

“Cheers,” Andy says, clinking her glass against Felix’s, and takes a sip.

Dean takes a long pull of his beer and then clears his throat. “So what were you doing around here if you weren’t digging’ me out of my grave?” he asks his little brother.

“Well, once I figured out I couldn’t save you, I started hunting down Lilith, trying to get some payback.”

“All by yourself?” Bobby growls accusingly. “Who do you think you are, your old man?”

Dean suddenly cocks his head to the side and gets up, crossing over to the bed with a frown.

“That’s the Lilith who sicced her Hellhounds on Dean, right?” Felix asks.

“Right,” Sam says, distracted as he glances at his brother. “And, uh, yeah, I’m sorry, Bobby. I should have called. I was pretty messed up.”

Dean fishes a pink flowered bra out from under the bed and holds it up, raising an eyebrow at Sam. “Oh yeah. I really feel your pain.”

“Anyways,” Sam mumbles, face flushing pink as Felix grabs the bra and holds it to her chest, Andy bursting into laughter when the redhead does a little dance. “Uh, I was checking these Demons out of Tennessee, and out of nowhere they took a hard left, booked up here.”

“Wait, what?” Andy asks. “When?”

“Yesterday morning,” Sam tells her. “Why?”

“We had the same problem,” Felix says, taking a long pull of her beer. “Sent a bunch of those assholes back to Hell at dawn.”

“That’s when I busted out,” Dean says, eyes wide. “And not long after that Andy and Fee picked me up.”

“You think these Demons are here ‘cause of you?” Bobby asks him.

“But why?” Sam wonders.

“Well, I don’t know--some badass Demon drags me out and now this? It’s gotta be connected somehow.”

“How ya feelin’ anyway, Dean?” Andy asks.

“I’m a little hungry.”

“No,” Bobby says with a roll of his eyes. “She means, do ya feel like yourself? Anything strange, or different?”

“Or Demonic? Bobby, how many times do I have to prove I’m me?”

“Yeah. Well, listen,” the older man says. “No Demon’s lettin’ you loose out of the goodness of their hearts. They’ve gotta have somethin’ nasty planned.”

“Well, I feel fine.”

“Okay, look,” Sam says. “We don’t know what they’re planning. We got a pile of questions and no shovel. We need help.”

“I know a psychic. A few hours from here,” Bobby tells them. “Somethin’ this big, maybe she’s heard the other talkin’.”

“Hell yeah, it’s worth a shot,” Dean says.

“I’ll be right back, then.” Bobby gets to his feet and heads for the door.

“I’ll get the car started,” Andy said, and Felix follow after her, chugging the rest of her beers.

Dean gets to his feet and starts to follow them, but Sam’s voice stops him: “Hey wait. You probably want this back.” His little brother was reaching into the collar of his shirt to pull out a cord when Dean turns around, and it’s after Sam places it into his hand that he realizes it’s his amulet. He absently touches his neck, wondering how he hadn’t noticed it was gone before.

“Thanks,” he mumbles.

“Yeah, don’t mention it,” Sam says, falling silent as he watches Dean slip the amulet over his head. After a minute, “Hey Dean, what was it like?”

Dean glances up. “What, Hell? I don’t know, I, I must have blacked out. I don’t remember a damn thing.”

“Well, thank God for that,” his little brother nods, and turns to leave.

“Yeah,” Dean murmurs. “Thank God for that.” But instead of following after Sam, Dean heads for the bathroom. Flicking on the light, he stares at himself and runs a hand over his chin as he leans forward on the sink. Images suddenly flash across his mind: His face bloody and terrified, screams and eerie sounds echoing around him.

Dean pulls back from the mirror, the images disappear, and he blinks in confusion.


	3. You Will Not Harm Dean Winchester (4.01)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Baby is douched up by Sam, Andy and Felix have a heart-to-heart, Pamela's eyes get (accidentally) burned out by Castiel, and Demons are scared of a silver blade.

* * *

The brothers, Andy, and Felix follow Bobby down a set of stairs as he heads for his car. “She’s about four hours down the Interstate. Try to keep up.”

“We’ll be right behind you,” Andy tosses over her shoulder as she and Felix climb into a powder blue ‘78/’79 AMC Pacer.

“I assume you’ll want to drive,” Sam says as they others drive away, pulling a set of keys out of his right pocket and tosses them to Dean.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” he chuckles, running a hand lovingly along the Impala as he approaches it. “Hey, sweetheart, did you miss me?” Getting into the driver’s side, he settles in, but his revelry is soon broken when he notices the iPod plugged into the stereo. Pausing, he gives it a dirty look, and when Sam slips into the passenger seat with a grin, Dean glares at him too. “What the hell is that?” he exclaims.

“That’s an iPod jack.”

“You were supposed to take care of her, not douche her up.”

“Dean, I thought it was my car.”

Dean sneers, and turns the key in the ignition with a sigh. “ _Vision_ ” by Jason Manns begins to play and Dean rolls his eyes, glaring at Sam with a pained expression on his face. “Really?” His little brother shrugs innocently as Dean rips the iPod out of the jack and tosses it into the backseat.

“There’s still one thing that’s bothering me,” Dean says when they’re a few miles down the road.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, the night that I bit it. Or . . . got bit.” He chuckles at his own joke and Sam rolls his eyes. “How’d you make it out? I thought Lilith was going to kill you.”

“Well, she tried. She couldn’t.”

“What d’you mean, she couldn’t?”

“She fired this, like, burning light at me, and . . . didn’t leave a scratch. Like I was immune or something.”

“Immune?”

“Yeah. I don’t know who was more surprised, her or me. She left pretty fast after that.”

“Huh. And what about Ruby, where is she?”

“Dead. For now.”

Dean bites his lip, not really sure he should ask the question that’s bugging him, but does it anyway. “So you been using you’re, uh, freaky ESP stuff?”

“No,” his little brother says automatically.

“You sure about that? Well, I mean, now that you’ve got . . . immunity, whatever the hell that is . . . just wondering what other kind of weirdo crap you’ve got going on.”

“Nothing, Dean,” Sam stresses. “Look, you didn’t want me to go down that road, so I didn’t go down that road. It was practically your dying wish.”

“Yeah, well, let’s keep it that way,” Dean tells him.

About a yard ahead of the Winchester brothers, Andy is singing softly along to “ _Space Junk_ ” by Wang Chung while Felix draws in the sketchbook she’d stashed under the seat.

“You shouldn’t do that in the dark, Fee, you’ll hurt your eyes.”

“No I won’t.”

Andy sighs, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. “What’re you drawin’?”

“You’ll see.”

Andy sighs again.

“Alright, what’s wrong?” Felix asks without looking up.

“What, what d’you mean?”

“You only sigh like that when you’ve got somethin’ on your mind. So spill. What’s up?”

“Dean and Bobby asked me how I knew Sam wasn’t lying.”

“You told them about your super power?”

“Yeah,” Andy chuckles.

“Anything else?”

“I told them about . . . my mom.”

Felix’s head snaps up, her storm grey eyes glowing even in the dark. “The day you became a Hunter? What else did you say? You didn’t tell them that you--”

“No, Fee, I didn’t,” Andy assures her. “I told them I blacked out instead. I didn’t want to freak them out by saying that I killed a bunch of Demons with the glowing white light that comes from my hands.”

“That would freak anybody out,” Felix says, then grins. “But not me.”

“No,” Andy laughs as she leans over to kiss her girlfriend. “Not you, baby.”

* * *

Early the next morning, the group pulls up in front of a quaint little house, and when Bobby knocks on the door, it swings open to reveal a strong and beautiful, thirty-something woman with a ready smile that can only be Pamela.

“Bobby!” she exclaims brightly, and grabs him in a hug, briefly lifting him off the ground. The brothers, Andy, and Felix all share a look.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Bobby grins.

Pamela steps back to look the boys up and down approvingly. “So, these the boys?”

“Sam, Dean. This is Pamela Barnes, the best damn psychic in the state.”

“Hey,” Dean says flirtatiously.

“Hi,” Sam mumbles awkwardly.

“Mmm-mmm-mmm. Dean Winchester. Out of the fire and back in the frying pan, huh? Makes you a rare individual.”

“If you say so.”

Glancing over the boys’ shoulders, Pamela grins at the sight of Andy and Felix. “And who are these two lovely ladies?”

“Pamela, this is Andrea Moss and her girlfriend, Felix,” Dean says. “They picked me after I came back.”

The psychic shakes both girls’ hands, lingering on Andy as they lock eyes. “Now, you, my dear, are something special.” Releasing Andy’s hand, Pamela gestures for everyone to come inside.

“So,” Bobby asks as the door closes behind them, “you hear anything?”

“Well, I Ouija’d my way through a dozen spirits. No one seems to know who broke your boy out” --Pamela’s gaze finds Andy, who quickly looks away-- “or why.”

“So what’s next?”

“A seance, I think. See if we can see who did the deed.”

“You’re not . . .” Andy gapes. “You’re not gonna summon whatever it is here, are you?”

“No.” Pamela shakes her head. “I just want a sneak peek at it. Like a crystal ball without the crystal.”

“I’m game,” Dean says.

The follow her into a darkened room where Pamela spreads a black tablecloth covered in symbols over a small table. Sam and Dean look at it warily. Felix and Dean cock their heads as Pamela squats in front of a cabinet, revealing a scrawled tattoo across her lower back that reads: _Jesse Forever_.

“Who’s Jesse?” Felix asks, twirling the lollipop in her mouth.

“Well, it wasn’t forever,” Pamela laughs.

“His loss,” Dean tells her, and she gets to her feet with several pillar candles in her hands, stopping in front of Dean with a smirk.

“Might be your gain.”

Lowering his voice as she passes by, Dean turns to Sam and whispers, “Dude, I am so in.”

“Ditto,” Felix murmurs from beside him, staring at Pamela’s swishing hips.

“Yeah, and she’ll eat you both alive,” Sam murmurs back.

“Hey, I just got out of jail. Bring it.”

“You’re invited too, grumpy,” Pamela says with a wink at Sam as she passes by, adding to Felix, “You too, shortcake.”

“You are not invited,” Dean whispers to Sam.

A few minutes later, Pamela, Bobby, Sam, Dean, Andy, and Felix are seated around the small table, which now had six lighted candles in the center.

“Right. Take each other’s hands,” Pamela says, and they did so. “And I need to touch something our mystery monster touched.” She slides her hand along Dean’s inner thigh and he jumps.

“Whoa. Well, he didn’t touch me there.”

“My mistake.”

Dean, suddenly nervous, then takes off his outer shirt and pulls up his left t-shirt sleeve to reveal the brand. Sam stares at it, wide-eyed and shocked, and glances at Bobby. Pamela lays her hand on the brand.

“Okay.” Each of them close their eyes as Pamela begins to chant: “I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle.” A television suddenly flicks on to static and Pamela continues. “I invoke, conjure, and command . . . Castiel? No. Sorry, Castiel, I don’t scare easy.”

“Castiel?” Dean says, confused.

“Its name. It’s whispering to me, warning me to turn back.”

“Maybe we should,” Andy says, her voice trembling.

The white noise and static continues as the table begins to shake.

“I conjure and command you, show me your face.I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face.I conjure and command you, show me your face.”

“Maybe we should stop,” Bobby shouts over the white noise and rattling as it became more violent.

Beside Pamela, Andy was trying to yank her hand out of the woman’s death grip. “Do as he says,” she cries. “Please!” Her eyes shoot skyward as tears begin to streak down her cheeks. “Castiel, please don’t do this! Please!”

“Don’t break the circle, I almost got it,” Pamela says, gripping Andy’s hand even tighter. “I command you, show me your face! Show me your face now!”

The candles suddenly flare up several feet into the air and Pamela starts to scream as her eyes fly open, filled with white-hot flame. Andy shrieks, scrambling out of her chair to hid under the table.

The rattling, white noise, and flames, all die out at once the second Pamela collapses.

Bobby catches Pamela as she falls and slowly lowers her to the ground. “Call 9-1-1!” he shouts, and Sam scrambles out of his chair and into the next room.

Felix crouches over Pamela and Bobby. The psychic is conscious, but bleeding and burned. Her eyelids fly open to reveal black, empty sockets.

“I can’t see!” she sobs. “I can’t see! Oh god!”

Dean can hear Sam calling the ambulance from the next room as he kneels down in front of the small table. Slowly lifting up the tablecloth, he’s shocked to see Andy curled into a ball, tears streaming down her cheeks that are turning pink as they mixed with the blood that is coming from the corners of her eyes.

“Andy,” he murmurs gently. “He’s gone. Castiel is gone. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

“He told her not to look,” she babbles, almost incoherently. “He told her it would burn out her eyes.”

* * *

A couple hours later, in Johnny Mac’s Diner, Dean is giving his order to a brunette waitress.

“Be up in a jiff,” she tells him with a smile and, as she turns to leave Sam walks in, talking on his cell phone.

“You bet,” he tells Bobby, hanging up the phone as he sits down across from his brother.

“What’d Bobby say?”

“Pam’s stable. And out of the I.C.U.”

“And blind, because of us.”

“And we still have no clue who we’re dealing with.”

“That’s not entirely true.”

Sam quirks an eyebrow. “No?”

“We got a name,” Dean tells him. “Castiel, or whatever. With the right mumbo-jumbo we could summon him, bring him right to us.”

“You’re crazy. Absolutely not.”

“We’ll work him over. I mean, after what he did?”

“Pam took a peek at him and her eyes burned out of her skull, and you want to have a face-to-face?” Sam lowers his voice, nodding his head in the direction of the booth next to them, where Felix was trying to sooth a babbling Andy. “Just look at what he did to Andy. She’s practically gone insane.”

“And we still don’t know why she freaked after Pamela said Castiel’s name. Besides, you got a better idea?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact I do. I followed some Demons to town, right?”

Dean appears skeptical. “Okay . . .”

“So, we go find them. Someone’s gotta know something about something.”

The waitress suddenly appears with two plates of pie and sets them on the table.

“Thanks,” Sam says with a smile.

She then plops down in a chair at the end of the table and Dean glances at her, smirking. “You angling for a tip?”

“I’m sorry. I thought you were looking for us,” she says. Her eyes go Demon-black for a moment, the a uniformed man by the counter and the cook behind the counter also flashing the Demon-black. A second later the uniformed man heads toward the door, locks it, and stands in front of it. The waitress’s eyes go back to normal. “Dean. To hell and back. Why aren’t you a lucky duck.”

“That’s me,” he replies. “The luckiest duck in the world.”

“So you get to just stroll out of the pit, huh?” the she-Demon says. “Tell me. What makes you so special?”

“I like to think it’s because of my perky nipples.” His eyes harden. “I don’t know. Wasn’t my doing, I don’t know who pulled me out.”

“Right. You don’t.”

“Lying’s a sin, you know.”

“I’m not lying. But I’d like to find out, so if you wouldn’t mind enlightening me, Flo . . .”

“Mind your tone with me, boy. I’ll drag you back to hell myself.”

Sam, glaring daggers at the she-Demon throughout the exchange, shifts in his chair, as if he’s about to attack. Dean holds up a hand and Sam stops, settling back into his chair.

“No, you won’t,” Dean says.

“No?”

“No. Because if you were you would have done it already,” he tells her. “Fact is, you don’t know who cut me loose. And you’re just as spooked as we are. And you’re looking for answer. Well, maybe it was some turbo-charged spirit. Or, uh, Godzilla. Or some big bad Demon boss. I’m guessing at your pay grade  that they don’t tell you squat. Because, whoever it was, they want me out. And they’re a lot stronger than you. So go ahead. Send me back. But don’t come crawling to me when they show on your front doorstep with some Vaseline and a fire hose.”

Eyes burning with rage, the she-Demon leans close and whispers: “I’m going to reach down your throat and rip out your lungs.”

Dean leans forward, a challenge in his green eyes, but before he could do anything Andy is there, glaring at the she-Demon.

“You will not harm Dean Winchester.”

The she-Demon laughs. “Oh, lookie here, a little girl trying to protect a big, bad Winchester. You _must_ be crazy.”

Andy shifted and suddenly a long, silver blade is pointed at the she-Demon’s throat. It’s eyes widen with something Dean’s never before seen in a Demon’s eyes: fear.

“What are you?” the she-Demon asks.

“You will not harm Dean Winchester,” Andy says again. “Or I will slaughter you and all your little friends in this godforsaken diner. Understood?” The she-Demon backs away, motioning with a wave of her hand for the uniformed Demon to unlock the door and move away from it. Andy nods to Felix and the redhead quickly ushers Sam and Dean out of the diner. “You come after us and you’ll regret it.”

A minute later, Dean comes strolling back in and pulls a roll of cash out of his pocket, carefully peeling off a ten dollar bill which he holds up and drops on the table like an insult. “For the pie,” he says, grabbing Andy’s arm and hauling her out of the diner after him.

“Holy shit, that was close,” Felix breathes once they were out in the parking lot.

Dean drags Andy towards the Impala. “Are you crazy?” he shouts at her. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“What’re you talking about?” she says. “I was defending you!”

“Yeah, well, I can pick my own battles, thanks,” he snaps. “And where the fuck did you get that blade from anyway?”

“What blade?” He grabs her wrist and holds up her hand, her fingers were curling tightly around a silver blade. Her eyes go wide with shock and she drops it, quickly backing away. “I-I don’t know,” she says, shaking her head. “I don’t know where that came from.” Felix rushes over, pulling Andy into a hug as she stares wide-eyed at the blade sitting at her feet.

Sam approaches them cautiously. “We’re not just going to leave them in there, are we, Dean?”

Tearing his eyes from Andy, Dean says, “Well yeah, there’s three of them, probably more, and we’ve only got one knife and Andy’s weird fucking blade between us.”

“I’ve been killing a lot more Demons than that lately,” Sam tells him.

“Not anymore--the smarter brother's back in town.”

“Dean, we’ve gotta take ‘em. They’re dangerous.”

“Didn’t you see them back there, Sam?” Andy asks. “They’re _scared_. Okay? Scared of whatever had the juice to yank Dean’s pretty boy ass out of Hell.”

“She’s right,” Dean says. “Andy’s right. We’re dealing with a bad mofo here. One job at a time, Sammy.”


	4. Who Knew Angels Could Smile? (4.01)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which even MORE glass shatters, Demon Ruby is back, Sam wonders what a 'Nephilim' is, some lightbulbs break, and Dean meets his future boyfriend.

* * *

Later that night at the Astoria Motel, Dean is dozing on the couch with a large book open on his lap. The girls are curled up on the bed, Felix finally able to calm Andy down enough to get her to sleep. Sam grabs the Impala’s keys, checking to make sure none of them had woken up before he slips out the door.

Minutes later the television flicks on to the now-familiar static, the radio starting to whine as well.

The sounds wake Dean, who rubs sleep out of his eyes and quickly rolls to grab a shotgun lying by the bed. Andy and Felix snap awake seconds later, the silver blade in the brunette’s hands and a loaded Smith and Wesson in the redhead’s. Dean looks around cautiously, noticing that the chair Sam had occupied earlier was now empty, and grimaces.

“Where the fuck is Sam?” Andy murmurs, getting to her feet.

The painfully high-pitched noise begins again before either Felix or Dean could answer and they clutched their ears, trying to keep their weapons up.

“Castiel,” Andy moans. “You gotta stop. Dean can’t hear you like this.”

A mirror on the ceiling shatters and broken glass rains down on them. They crumple to the ground, Dean clutching both ears and Felix curls into a ball as Andy sinks to her knees, clutching her head in pain. All the glass in the room shatters explosively and they scream.

Bobby bursts into the room as more glass shatters.

“Dean! Girls!” he shouts.

Twenty minutes later they’re back on the road with Bobby behind the wheel of his car and the girls following in the Pacer. Dean sits in Bobby’s passenger seat, wiping blood from his face.

“How ya doin’, kid?”

“Aside from the church bells ringing in my head, peachy,” Dean grumbles, pulling his phone from his pocket to dial a number.

Hey,” Sam’s voice says on the other line.

“What are you doing?”

“Couldn’t sleep, went to get a burger.”

“In my car?”

“Force of habit,” Sam tells him. “Sorry. What are you doing up?”

“Well, uh, Bobby’s back. We’re going to grab a beer.” Dean holds up a hand at Bobby’s shocked expression.

“All right, well, uh, spill some for me, huh?”

“Done. Catch ya later.”

“Why the hell didn’t you tell him?” Bobby snaps as soon as Dean hangs up.

“Because he’d just tried to stop us.”

“From what?”

“Summoning this thing.” Bobby stares at him in shock. Again. “It’s time we faced this thing head-on.”

“You can’t be serious!”

“As a heart attack. It’s high noon, baby.”

“Well, we don’t know what it is. It could be a Demon, it could be anything.”

“That’s why we’ve got to be read for anything,” Dean tells him, pulling out Ruby’s Demon-killing knife. “We’ve got the big-time magic knife, you’ve got an arsenal in the trunk . . .”

“Yeah, and an off-her-rocker Hunter and her lesbian girlfriend, too.” Bobby shakes his head. “This is a bad idea.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t agree more, but what other choice do we have?”

“We could choose life.”

“Bobby, look, whatever this is, whatever it wants, it’s after me. That much we know, right? I’ve got no place to hide. I can either get caught with my pants down again, or we can make our stand.”

“Dean, we could use Sam on this.”

“We’ve got Andy and Felix. We’re fine.”

“Again. Off her rocker.”

“Nah, Sam’s better off where he is.”

* * *

Back at Johnny Mac’s diner, Sam quietly slips into the darkened diner after picking the lock. A song’s playing on the jukebox, and as Sam enters, he notices the cook from earlier face-down on the floor, hands bloody. Crouching next to the man, Sam turns him over to see that he’s dead, eyes burned out and dry blood caked onto his cheeks. As Sam gets to his feet, a figure tackles him from behind, and it’s the Demon waitress. They trade blows until Sam finally pushes her away, startled to see that her eye sockets were burned-out and blood was trickling down her face. She looked simultaneously terrifying and terrified.

“Your eyes,” Sam breathes.

“I can still smell your soul a mile away,” she growls.

“It was here. You saw it.”

The she-Demon begins to sob. “I saw it.”

“What was it?”

“It’s the end. We’re dead. We’re all dead. You _and_ your Nephilim friend.”

“Nephilim?” Sam says, confused. “Wait. What did you see?”

“Go to hell.”

“Funny. I was going to say the same thing to you.” Sam steps back and closes his eyes in concentration, extending his right hand toward the Demon. She heaves and begins to vomit black smoke into her hand, and in seconds, the waitress collapses to the floor as the Demon is sucked down into the Pit. Sam’s eyes snap open after a moment and he instantly crosses over to the woman, heaving a sigh of disappointment after checking her pulse. “Damn it,” he grumbles.

The kitchen door opens and a woman steps out. Sam looks up, not at all surprised to see the girl from the Astoria Motel coming towards him.

“Getting pretty slick there, Sam. Better all the time.”

Sam gets to his feet and they share a smoldering look, his face falling when he glances down at the corpse at his feet.

“What the hell is going on here, Ruby?” he asks, raking a hand through his hair.

“I wish I knew,” the she-Demon says with a shrug.

“We were thinking some high level Demon pulled Dean out.”

“No way,” she says with a shake of her head. “Sam, human souls don‘t just walk out of Hell and back into their bodies easy-peasey. The sky bleeds, the ground quakes. It’s cosmic. No Demon can swing that. Not Lilith, not anybody.”

“Then what can?”

“Nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

As they sit down across from each other at one of the booths, Ruby says: “So. Million dollar question, are you going to tell Dean about what we’re doing?”

“Yeah, I just gotta figure out the right way to say it,” he replies, and she glares at him. “Look, I just need time, okay? That’s all.”

“Sam, he’s going to find out, and if it’s not from you he’s going to be pissed.”

“He’s going to be pissed anyway.I mean, he’s so hardheaded about this psychic stuff he’ll just try and stop me.”

“Look,” she said. “Maybe I’ll just take a step back back for a while.”

“Ruby,” Sam sighs.

“I mean, I’m not exactly in your brother’s fanclub. But he is your brother, and I’m going to come between you.”

“I don’t know if what I’m doing is right. Hell, I don’t even know if I trust you.”

“Thanks,” Ruby says flatly.

“But what I _do_ know is that I’m saving people. And stopping Demons. And that feels good. I want to keep going.”

* * *

Andy stands nervously in front of the door of the warehouse, watching as Bobby draws a symbol with white spray paint on the cement floor. She glances around to see Felix finishing up her side of the empty rectangular warehouse, the entire floor, walls, and ceiling covered in similar images.

“That’s a hell of an art project you and Felix got goin’ on there, Bobby,” Dean says as Andy approaches the table he’s setting equipment on.

“Traps and talismans from every faith on the globe. How you doin’?”

“Stakes, iron, silver, salt, knife,” Dean counts off. “I mean, we’re pretty much set to catch and kill whatever this bastard is.”

“This is still a bad idea,” Bobby tells him.

“I agree,” Andy says, examining the things on the table. “You can’t stop Castiel with any of this.” The two men stare at her. “What?”

“Andy, do you know something about this Castiel we don’t?” Bobby asks.

“Just enough to know that none of this stuff will catch or kill him.”

Dean eyes her for a moment before motioning to Bobby. “Ring the dinner bell, wouldja?”

The older man nods reluctantly, crossing over to a desk where he takes a pinch of some powder from a bowl and sprinkles it into a larger bowl, which begins to smoke. He starts to chant in Latin.

A half-an-hour later, however, Dean and Bobby are seated on the tables, swinging their legs and looking quite bored. Felix sits at Dean’s feet, braiding strands of her hair, while Andy paces back-and-forth in front of the warehouse doors.

“He knows what you guys were planning to do to him if he showed up,” she tells the boys angrily. “Now he’s not coming.”

Dean glances over at Bobby. “You sure you did the ritual right?” he asks, and Bobby gives him the _did-you-really-just-ask-me-that_ look. “Sorry. Touchy, touchy, huh?”

As if on cue, a loud rattling shakes the roof and Andy stumbles away from the door with a shriek. Dean and Bobby arm themselves with shotguns as they take positions at the far end of the warehouse. Felix pulls a Smith and Wesson from her boot and moves closer to Andy, dragging her girlfriend back toward the boys.

“Wishful thinking, but maybe that’s just the wind,” Dean exclaims.

The door bursts open and an incredibly handsome man in a business suit and trenchcoat stalks in. Dean's breath catches, realizing that this guy must be Castiel. The lightbulbs over Castiel's head shatter in a shower of sparks as he passes under them and as he approaches them, Dean and Bobby open fire, but the shots don't even slow him down. Dean grabs the magic knife as Castiel gets close.

“Who are you?” Dean growls.

“I’m the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition.”

“Yeah. Thanks for that.”

Andy lets out a shriek as Dean rears back and plunges the magic knife into Castiel’s chest. Castiel looks down at his chest, unconcerned, and pulls out the knife, dropping it to the floor. Behind him Bobby attacks, and without looking, Castiel grabs Bobby’s weapon and uses it to swing him around. He touches his fingertips to Bobby’s forehead and Bobby crumples to the ground. With a growl Felix charges forward, but he grabs her arm too, touching his fingertips to the redhead’s forehead and she crumples to the ground.

“Felix!” Andy cries, and suddenly she is in front of Dean, silver blade in hand and pointing at Castiel’s neck. “What have you done to her? Tell me!”

Castiel glances over the blade at Dean. “We need to talk, Dean. Alone.”

“Not without me, you aren’t,” Andy snaps. Dean crouches over Bobby and Felix to check their pulse. “Who are you?”

“Where did you get this blade?” Castiel asks, adding at Dean’s glare, “Your friends are alive.”

“Answer the question,” Dean says. “Who are you?”

“Castiel.”

“Yeah, I figured that much, I mean _what_ are you?”

Andy’s blade slips from her fingers to clatter to the ground; Dean glancing over at her to see her mouth open in shock. “Get the hell out of here,” he says. “There’s no such thing.”

“This is your problem, Dean,” Castiel tells him. “You have no faith.”

Lightning flashes, and on Castiel’s back great shadowy wings appear, stretching off into the distance. The light goes out and the image disappears.

“Finally,” Andy breathes, eyes wide. "An Angel."

“Some Angel you are,” Dean snaps, glaring at Castiel. “You burned out that poor woman’s eyes.”

“I warned her not to spy on my true form. It can be . . .” --Castiel hesitates, as if he’s searching for the right word-- “overwhelming to humans, and so can my real voice. But you already knew that.”

“You mean the gas station and the motel. That was you talking?” Castiel nods. “Buddy, next time lower the volume.”

“That was my mistake,” the Angel says. “Certain people, special people, can perceive my true visage. I thought you would be one of them. I was wrong.”

“But I could,” Andy tells him, and Castiel glances over at her, curious. “I could hear your true voice. I hear the Angels voices all the time, in my head.”

“True, you can. You are very interesting indeed.”

Andy squeals, grabbing Dean’s arm. “An Angel called me interesting!”

“Alright, alright, but seriously, what visage are you in right now, huh?” Dean asks. “Some kind of holy tax accountant?”

Castiel looks down at himself, almost as if he is just now realizing he had clothes on. “This? This is . . . a vessel.”

Dean’s eyes widen. “You’re possessing some poor bastard?”

“Duh,” Andy snorts. “Angels can only possess someone willing and devout. Don’t you read?”

“It’s true,” Castiel replies. “He's a devout man, he actually prayed for this.”

“Well, I’m not buying what you’re selling, so who are you really?”

Castiel frowns. “I told you.”

“Right. And why would an Angel rescue me from Hell?”

“Good things do happen, Dean,” the Angel says, and his gravelly voice sent a shiver down Dean’s spine.

“Not in my experience.”

“What’s the matter? You don’t think you deserve to be saved?” He looks into Dean’s eyes for a moment, a slight grin quirking the Angel’s lips, and all Dean can think is: _I didn’t know Angels could smile._

“Then why’d you do it?” Andy asked. “Why’d you pull Dean from Hell?”

“Because God commanded it," Castiel tells them, bright blue eyes locking on Dean. "Because we have work for you.”


	5. The Victims They Couldn't Save (4.02)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Felix steals Dean's shirt and Andy then wears, Dean doesn't think he's God's special boy, Sam forgets the pie, ghosts try to kill them (but when don't they?), and Castiel saves Dean.

* * *

 

Andy had just walked into Bobby’s kitchen to grab a glass of orange juice when she hears Sam’s voice ask, “Well, then tell me what else it could be.”

“Look, all I know is I was not groped by a really handsome Angel,” Dean replies.

“Oh, you so totally were,” Andy says, padding into the room in nothing but a tank-top and pajama shorts.

“Ah, jeez, don’t you have any clothes?” Dean asks, instantly averting his eyes.

“Yeah, but they’re in my car at the moment.”

“Then go get them!”

Her mouth pops open. “How dare you, I’m in my pajamas! Who knows what kind of sickos are out there! Shame on you, Dean Winchester, shame!” She stalks out of the room--only to return a few minutes later wearing one of Dean’s plaid button-up shirts. She buttons it up and then turns on the spot for him. “Better?”

“Is that my shirt?”

“Felix totally didn’t steal it,” she mumbles, quickly moving over to the couch to sit down.

Dean rolls his eyes.

“Okay, look, Dean,” Sam continues. “Why do you think this Castiel would lie to you about it?”

“He wouldn’t,” Andy replies. “That’s the point. Angels don’t tend to lie.”

“Well then maybe he’s some kind of Demon. Demon’s lie.”

Bobby glances up from his books to share a look with Sam.

“A Demon who’s immune to salt rounds and devil’s traps . . . and Ruby’s knife? Dean, even Lilith is scared of that thing!”

“Don’t you think that if Angels were real, that some Hunter somewhere would have seen one . . . at some point . . . ever?”

“Yeah,” Sam says. “You just did, Dean.”

“And me,” Andy pipes up.

“I’m trying to come up with a theory here, guys. Okay? Work with me.”

“Dean, we have a theory.”

Dean rolls his eyes at his little brother. “Yeah, one with a little less fairy dust on it, please.”

“Okay, look. I’m not saying we know for sure. I’m just saying that I think we--”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to say!” Dean exclaims angrily. “We don’t know for sure, so I’m not gonna believe that this thing is a freaking Angel of the Lord because it says so!”

Andy pops to her feet, face flushed with anger. “Well I believe Castiel!”

“Well, of course you do, you can hear Angels in your head!” Dean snaps.

“Which you still haven’t told us why you can, by the way,” Sam adds.

“Because I don’t know, okay!” Andy shouts, and that shuts the brothers up. “I’ve been hearing them all my life and I’ve never known why! Do you even know how many times I’ve been locked up in the looney bin because of it? People think it’s a lot less cute to say you can hear Angels when you get past a certain age. It’s a curse and I hate it.”

“Alright, alright, all of you calm down,” Bobby finally says, breaking the silence. “And come take a look at this, would ya?” Sam, Dean, and Andy walks over to Bobby’s desk. “I got stacks of lore--Biblical, pre-Biblical. Some of it’s in damn cuneiform. It all says an Angel can snatch a soul from the Pit.”

“What else?” Dean asks.

“What else, what?”

“What else could do it?”

“You mean airlift your ass out of the hotbox?” Bobby asks, and Dean nods. “As far as I can tell, nothing.”

“Dean, this is good news,” Sam tells him.

“How?”

“Because for once, this isn’t just another round of Demon crap. I mean, maybe you were saved by one of the good guys, you know?”

“Okay. Say it’s true. Say there are Angels. Then what? There’s a God?”

At this point,” Bobby says. “Vegas money’s on yeah.”

“And Castiel did say God commanded that you come back,” Andy adds.

Dean runs a hand down his face. “I don’t know, guys.”

“Okay look. I know you’re not all choirboy about this stuff, but this is becoming less and less about faith and more and more about proof.”

“Proof?”

“Yes.”

“Proof that there’s a God out there that actually gives a crap about me personally?” Dean scoffs. “I’m sorry, but I’m not buying it.”

“And why not?” Andy asks, hands on her hips.

“Because why me?” Dean exclaims, and the three of them went silent. “If there is a God out there, why would he give  a crap about me?”

Sam winces. “Dean--”

“I mean, I’ve saved some people, okay? I figured that made up for the stealing and the ditching chicks. But why do I deserve to get saved? I’m just a regular guy. I’m not special, I’m--”

Andy launches herself at Dean, raising herself up on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck. “You are special. You’re one of the best Hunters I know. Please don’t think any different, okay?”

“And apparently you’re a regular guy who’s important to the man upstairs,” Sam jokes, and both Dean and Andy scowl at him.

“Yeah, well, that creeps me out,” Dean replies. “I mean, I don’t like getting singled out at birthday parties, much less by . . . God.”

“Too bad, Dean, because I think he wants you to strap on your party hat,” Andy says with a grin.

“Fine,” he sighs. “What do we know about Angels?”

Bobby picks up a pile of fat and weighty-looking books and drops them down in front of Dean. “Start reading.”

Dean glances at the pile and then turns to Sam. “You’re gonna go get me some pie,” he tells his brother, picking up two books and handing one to Andy. “Time to start refreshing your Angel knowledge, Ms Moss.”

Andy makes a face. “Ew, don’t call me that. I’m not forty.”

Dean laughs.

* * *

“Yes, Dean, I’ll get the chips,” Sam tells his brother brother with a laugh as he pulls the Impala to a stop in front of a convenience store.

“Just don’t forget the pie.”

“Dude. When have I ever forgotten the pie?”

“Never?”

“Exactly.” As he got out of the car he noticed Ruby standing near the front and mumbled, “I gotta go.”

“Yep. Hurry back.”

“Yeah, all right. Bye.” Heading over toward Ruby, he greets her with a smile. “Ruby.”

“So, is it true?” she asks.

“Is what true?”

“Did an Angel rescue Dean?”

“You heard.”

“Who hasn’t?”

“We’re not 100% sure, but I think so. Why?”

“Okay. Bye, Sam.”

The she-Demon starts to walk away but Sam grabs her arm and turns her back around to face him. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. What’s going on?”

“Sam, they’re Angels. I’m a Demon. They’re not gonna care if I’m being helpful. They smite first, and then they ask questions later.”

“What do you know about them?”

“Not much,” she sighs, running a hand through her hair. “I’ve never met one and I don’t really want to. All I know is that they scare the holy hell out of me. Just like that Nephilim you’ve got shackin’ up with you.”

“That’s the second time I’ve heard that word. What’s a Nephilim?”

Ruby rolls her eyes. “Just watch out for yourself, Sam.”

“I’m not scared of Angels,” he tells her. She scoffs and walks away. Minutes later, still pondering over what Ruby had told him, Sam pulls up in front of the garage behind Bobby’s house.

“Keep the engine running,” the Hunter tells him as he approaches the window.

“Why? What’s going on?”

“I got a friend one state over--Olivia Lowry. I’ve been trying to reach her for three days on this Angel thing. It’s not like her to ignore this many calls.”

“Olivia Lowry--a Hunter, right?”

“Yeah. We’re gonna go check on her. You and the girls will follow me.”

As Bobby heads over to his own car, Dean approaches the driver’s side of the Impala, the girls climbing into the backseat.

“Scoot over,” Dean tells him, grabbing the bag of food his little brother bought to look inside it. “Dude?”

“Yeah?”

“Where’s the pie?”

“And where’s my chips?” Felix whines.

* * *

Bobby enters Olivia’s house armed with a gun, followed by Sam, Dean, and the girls who are armed as well.

“Olivia?” Bobby calls, but as they enter the kitchen they see Olivia dead and covered in blood in the middle of the living room floor.

“Bobby?” Felix says, following after him as he heads out the door.

As the boys and Andy move further into the room, Sam points toward the doorway. “Salt line.”

Andy kneels down beside the body while Dean heads over toward the open closet, which is covered with an array of hunting weapons on a shelf attached to the wall. “Olivia was rockin’ the EMF reader.”

“Spirit activity,” Sam says with a nod.

“Unless it was on some kind of drug, I’ve never seen a ghost do this to a person,” Andy replies.

Bobby comes crashing back into the room, phone in hand, and Felix quickly following after him.

“Bobby, you alright?” Dean asks, noticing that the older man was looking a little pale.

“I called some Hunters nearby . . .”

“Good. We can use their help,” Andy says.

“They aren’t answering their phones either,” Felix tells them.

“Something’s up, huh?” Sam says.

“You think?” Bobby walks out of the room, the boys, Felix, and Andy sharing a concerned look.

Later that night, Dean, Sam, and Andy are walking down the front steps of a white house.

“Yeah, we’re at Jed’s,” Dean says into the phone. “And it’s not pretty. He looks even worse than Olivia. What about you and Felix?”

“We checked on Carl Bates and R.C. Adams--”

“Red seems to be a recurring decoration theme,” Felix’s voice says in the background.

“What’s going on here, Bobby?” Andy asks. “Why did a bunch of ghosts suddenly decide to kill off-duty Hunters?”

“I don’t know, but until we find out, you guys better get your asses to my place.”

“We’re on our way,” Dean tells him as they head for the Impala.

Sam pulls the Impala to a stop at a Save & Gas about two hours later, with Dean asleep in the passenger seat and Andy yawning awake.

“Hey,” he says softly, and she blinks at him. “I’m gonna go and grab something to snack on, want anything?”

“Nah. I just gotta go to the bathroom.”

After putting the gas pump in the car, Sam heads toward the store while Andy heads in the direction of the restrooms. However, as she’s washing her hands, her breath becomes visible and she looks up to see that the bathroom mirror has fogged over. Wiping the mist away, she’s startled to see the reflection of a little blonde girl about the age of seven in a Hello Kitty nightgown.

“Hi, Andy.”

“Eliza!” she gasps, spinning around. “But you’re--No, you’re dead. You died.”

“That’s right. I did,” Eliza says, and her face twists in anger. “And it was your fault. You didn’t save me from that werewolf, you lost control of it and let it kill me!”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Andy cries, tears in her eyes. “I never wanted you to die. I tried to save you, Eliza, I really did.”

“You were young, and stupid, and didn’t know what you were doing, and you let it kill me! This is all. Your. Fault!”

Eliza lunges toward Andy, grabbing her with surprising strength and slamming her into the wall. Andy notices a small brand on Eliza’s hand right before she’s thrown against the mirrors and Eliza knocks Andy’s head on the sink. Just as she collapses to the ground, the boys crash into the restroom and Dean shoots at Eliza, whose ghost disappears.

Fifteen minutes later they are back on the road, Sam driving with Dean in the passenger and Andy in the backseat, bruises on her face.

“Dammit, Bobby! Pick up!” Dean growls at his phone before turning around to look at Andy. “How you feelin’, Ann? How many fingers am I holding up?”

“None,” she mumbles. “I’ll be fine, Dean. I’ve had worse than this.”

“You might have a concussion,” he tells her. “We have to be careful.”

Sam catches her eye in the rearview mirror. “So who was that? The little girl?”

“Her name was Eliza Mondie. I was fifteen when I caught wind that a werewolf was in a town I was passing through. So I stayed, read up on ‘em, and finally found it one night trying to get into a family’s house.” Her voice trembles and a tear runs down her cheek. “I thought I’d shot it down.”

“What happened?” Dean asks softly.

“I was stupid. Young and stupid and scared and I forgot the goddamn silver bullets. The werewolf got loose, killing Eliza and severely injuring her parents before I was finally able to put it down for good. Her family blamed me for everything and I spent two weeks in jail before they finally took pity on me and bailed me out.”

“Jesus,” Sam says with a shake of his head. “Do you know what Eliza’s ghost wanted?”

“Revenge, ‘cause I got her killed.”

“Andy, it wasn’t your fault,” Dean protests.

“Yeah it was.”

“Andy . . .”

“Dean, please don’t argue with me, I have a headache.”

“That’s ‘cause you got beat up by a ghost,” Sam says.

“Shut up, Sam.”

“Alright you two, stop. Whatever the hell is going on here, it’s happening to us now, okay? I can’t get ahold of Bobby, so if neither of you are thinking answers, don’t think at all.”

The next morning, Sam and Dean enter through the back door of Bobby’s house, guns cocked and ready, with Andy following cautiously behind them.

“Bobby?” Dean loud-whispers as he and Sam move through the kitchen and into the living room.

As they turn the corner, Dean snaps his fingers and gestures towards the iron poker laying near the stairs. “I’ll go,” he told his brother. “You and Andy check outside.”

They nod and head for the back door as Dean starts up the stairs. “Bobby?” he whisper, and a door opens ever so slowly, though no one is visible. “Come out, come out, whoever you are.”

A young woman with shoulder-length brown hair appears behind him. “Dean Winchester. Still so bossy. You don’t recognize me?”

The image of Meg, when she was blonde and possessed, flashes across his mind.

“This is what I looked like before that Demon cut off all my hair and dressed me like a slut,” she tells him.

“Meg?” he breathes.

“Hi. It’s okay, I’m not a Demon.”

* * *

Castiel, Angel of the Lord,  watches from the Heavens as Dean faces off against the ghost.

“You’re the girl the Demon possessed,” the eldest Winchester says in shock.

“Meg Masters. Nice to finally talk to you when I’m not, ya know, choking on my own blood.” The ghost raises her hands in defense when he points his gun at her. “It’s okay. Seriously. I’m just a college girl. Sorry--was. I was walking home one night and got jumped by all this smoke. Next thing you know, I’m a prisoner” --she puts a hand to her head-- “in here. Now, I’m awake. I had to watch while she murdered people.”

“I’m sorry,” Dean mumbles, and Castiel hears the truth in his voice.

The ghost’s eyes flash with anger. “Oh, yeah? So sorry you had me thrown off a building?”

“Well, we thought--”

“No, you didn’t think! I kept waiting, praying! I was trapped in there screaming at you! Just help me, please! You’re supposed to help people, Dean. Why didn’t you help me?”

“I’m sorry,” Dean says again.

“Stop saying you’re sorry!” the ghost screams. She slaps him and Dean hits the floor with a thump!

“Meg. Meg . . .” She kicks Dean and he groans, a flicker of worry passing across Castiel’s face for a split second before it goes blank again. “We didn’t know.”

“No . . . You just attacked. Did you ever think there was a girl in here?” she asks. “No. You just charged in, slashing and burning. You think you’re some kind of hero?”

“No, I don’t,” Dean answers, and Castiel sighs.

She grabs Dean’s jacket and he notices the brand on it. “You’re damn right. Do you have any idea what it’s like to be ridden for months by pure evil . . . while your family has no idea what happened to you?”

“We did the best we could.”

Meg shoves him, kicking Dean in the stomach, and that little sliver of worry passes over Castiel’s face again.

“It wasn’t just me, Dean. I had a sister. A little sister. She worshipped me. You know how little siblings are, right?” she asks. “How they’ll do anything for you. She was never the same after I disappeared. She just . . . she just got lost. And when my body was lying in the morgue, beat-up and broken . . .”

“Meg.”

“Do you know what that did to her. She killed herself!” She kicks him in the stomach and he groans. “Because of you, Dean! Because all you were thinking about was your family, your revenge, and your Demons! Fifty words of Latin a little sooner, and I’d still be alive. My baby sister would still be alive. That blood is on your hands, Dean!”

“You’re right,” Dean’s voice echoes around him, and Castiel decides right then and there that he’d enough just as the eldest Winchester pulls out his gun and aims it at the ghost.

“Come on, Dean,” she laughs, “did your brain get french-fried in Hell? You can’t shoot me with bullets.”

A second before Dean pulls the trigger, Castiel’s index and middle fingers twitch and the iron chandelier above Meg’s head falls on top of her.

Dean’s eyes widen and he scrambles away. “Iron,” he breathes, and Castiel’s lips twitch slightly upwards. “It’s iron.”


	6. Demon Sunday School (4.02)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Bobby has a Panic Room, one of the 66 seals is broken, Castiel invades people's dreams, and the Apocalypse starts.

* * *

“It just fell?”

Sam and Andy had found Bobby locked in a car in the junkyard, held captive by two ghost girls, and now the four of them are gathered in the study, listening to Dean explain what has happened between him and ghost Meg in the upstairs hallway.

“Yeah,” Dean nods. “My gun hadn’t even gone off yet and the damn thing just fell.”

“Maybe the Angels are watching over you,” Sam jokes, and Dean gives him a look.

“Wait, does this mean they’re all people we know?” Andy asks.

“Not just know. People we couldn’t save.” Andy’s eyes drop to her feet and Dean clears his throat. “Hey, I saw something on Meg. Did she have a tattoo when she was alive?”

“I don’t think so,” Sam says with a shake of his head.

“It was like a-a mark on her hand--almost like a brand.”

“I saw a mark on Eliza, too,” Andy says.

“What did it look like?” Bobby asks.

Andy grabs a piece of paper and starts sketching, holding up the drawing after a moment for Dean to compare. “That’s it.”

“I may have seen this before. We gotta move, follow me,” Bobby says.

“Okay, where are we going?” Andy asks.

“Some place safe, you idiot.” Bobby grabs several books off a bookshelf, shoving them into Sam’s hands, and then grabs another stack of books before walking out of the room to lead Sam, Dean and Andy down into the basement. Stopping at an iron door, he pounds on it with his fist and yells, “Felix, open ‘er up!”

The door swings open a few minutes later to reveal a grinning Felix, who gestures for them all to come into a circular room that has a pentagram and Devil’s traps etched into the floor. To the right of the door is a wall of weapons, a metal cabinet, and a desk sitting under a cork board covered in a bunch of papers. Next to the shelves full of food and the mattress that is attached to the wall, sat another desk that holds an assortment of radio equipment, books, and a map of the United States hanging above it.

“Fee!” Andy gasps, hugging her girlfriend tightly. “I was wondering where you were!”

“Bobby sent me down here when those ghosts started attacking. He said I’d be safe.”

Sam’s mouth drops open as he prods the wall. “Bobby, is this . . .”

“Solid iron. Completely coated in salt. 100% ghost-proof.”

“You built a panic room?” Andy says, staring wide-eyed at the wall of weapons.

The Hunter shrugs. “I had a weekend off.”

“Bobby,” Dean says, turning toward the man with a sniper rifle in hand.

“What?”

“You’re awesome.” He glances around, eyes landing on a poster of a swimsuit model above the leather chair, and he nudges Andy.

“Niiiice,” they chorus.

Ten minutes later, Felix is curled up in the leather chair and sketching the room, Andy lounging on the mattress as she flipped through a book on Angels, and Bobby sits at the desk near the weapons as he writes in a notebook. At the radio desk, Sam watches as his brother angrily packs rock salt into a bullet casing, immediately knowing something was on his mind.

“See, this is why I can’t get behind God,” Dean says after a moment.

Andy’s head snaps up, blue eyes narrowing. “What’re you talking about?”

“If he doesn’t exist, fine. Bad crap happens to good people. That’s how it is. There’s no rhyme or reason--just random, horrible, evil--I get it, okay. I can roll with that.”

“I’m sensing a ‘but’ here,” Felix says, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear.

“If he is out there,” Dean says. “What’s wrong with him? Where the hell is he while all these decent people are getting torn to shreds? How does he live with himself? You know, why doesn’t he help?”

“Dean . . .” Felix bites her lip nervously, glancing over at a furious Andy.

“I ain’t touching this one with a ten-foot pole,” Bobby says.

“Better yet, where are the goddamn Angels? Why isn’t that Castiel guy helping us?”

“Did you ever think that the Angels are busy, Dean?” Andy snaps. “That maybe they’re busy doing things that are just as important as what we’re doing?”

Dean looks surprised. “Um, no, sorry, Andy, I didn’t think about it.”

“Found it,” Bobby says.

“Found what?” Sam asks, relieved the subject has changed.

“The symbol Andy and Dean saw--the brand on the ghosts . . .”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Mark of the Witness.”

“Witness?” Andy murmurs. “Witness to what?”

“The unnatural. None of them died what you’d call ordinary deaths. See, these ghosts--they were forced to rise. They woke up in agony. They were like rabid dogs. It ain’t their fault. Someone rose ‘em . . . on purpose.”

“Why would anyone do that?” Felix asks, dropping her sketchbook in the chair as she walks over. “Who would do that?”

“Do I look like I know?” Bobby says as Sam comes over. “But whoever it was used a spell so powerful it left a mark, a brand on their souls. Whoever did this had big plans. It’s called ‘the rising of the witnesses.’ It figures into an ancient prophecy.”

“Wait, wait,” Dean says, getting to his feet. “What--what book is that prophecy from?”

“Well, the widely distributed version’s just for tourists, you know. But long story short--Revelations. This is a sign, children.”

“A sign of what?” Sam and Dean chorus.

“The apocalypse,” Andy says with wide eyes, and Bobby nods. “It’s a sign of the apocalypse.”

“Apocalypse?” Dean asks. “The apocalypse, apocalypse? The four horsemen, pestilence, five-dollar-a-gallon-for-gas apocalypse?”

“That’s the one. The rise of the Witnesses is a--a mile marker.”

“Okay, so, what do we do now?” Sam asks.

“Road trip. Grand Canyon, Star Trek Experience. Bunny Ranch,” he says as plops back down in his chair, and Felix laughs.

“First things first. How do we survive our friends out there?” Andy says.

Dean runs his hands over his face. “Any ideas aside from staying in this room until Judgement Day?”

Bobby taps the piece of paper in front of him with his pencil. “It’s a spell to send the witnesses back to rest. Should work.”

“Should,” Sam says. “Great.”

“If I translate it correctly. I think I got everything we need here at the house.”

Andy raises an eyebrow. “Any chance you got everything we need here in this room?”

“You think our luck was gonna start now, all of a sudden?” Bobby gets to his feet and stops in front of the door. “Spell’s got to be cast over an open fire.”

“The fireplace in the library,” Sam groans.

“Bingo.”

“I think I like the ghost-proof panic room, better,” Felix says. “Can I make a vote to stay here?”

“No,” Andy tells her, and minutes later they are all armed and ready.

“Cover each other. And aim careful. Don’t run out of ammo until I’m done, or they’ll shred ya. Ready?”

“Just do what you gotta do, Bobby,” Sam says. “We’ll handle the ghosts.”

They make their way out of the panic room and toward the stairs, startled to see the ghost of a portly young man in his early twenties blocking their path. He has curly hair and is wearing a blue vest.

“Hey, Dean,” he says with a grin. “You remember me?”

“Ronald, huh? With the laser eyes? I wish I could say it’s good to see you.”

“I am dead because of you. You were supposed to help me!”

Bobby raises his gun and shoots at Ronald, glaring at Dean over his shoulder as they head up the stairs. “If you’re gonna shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.” Once they make their way into the living room, Andy creates a salt circle and Felix starts the fire. “Sam. Upstairs, linen closet--red hex box. It’ll be heavy.”

“Got it,” he says.

Two little girls appear in the living room and one of them says, “Bobby,”

Dean shoots at them.

“Dean,” Bobby says. “Kitchen. Cutlery drawer. It’s got a false bottom. Hemlock, opium, wormwood.”

“Opium?”

“Go!” Bobby snaps. The girls reappear as Dean left, and Bobby tries to keep his focus on the chalk drawing he is doing on the desk.

“Bobby. You walked right by us while that monster ate us all up,” one of the girls says, and Andy raises her gun, shooting the ghost in the face.

“You could have saved us,” the other girl says, and Felix swings the iron poker like a bat.

Upstairs, Sam finally finds the red box, but when he turns around Meg is there and he instantly fires at her.

“You saw how I suffered for months,” she says. “I thought you might have learned something. I thought I died for something.”

“Meg,” Sam says.

“But what you’re doing with Demon, Ruby . . . How many innocent bodies has Ruby burned through for kicks? How many girls just like me? And you don’t send her back to Hell?” Her face twists in fury. “You’re a monster!”

Sam raises his rifle and shoots Meg.

Back in the kitchen, Dean’s looking for the false bottom in one of the drawers when the doors to the kitchen suddenly close.

“Dean?” comes Bobby’s voice.

“You alright in there?” Andy asks.

“I’m alright! Keep working, Bobby!” FBI Agent Victor Henriksen’s ghost appears next to Dean. “Victor,” he says, surprised.

“Dean.”

“I know.”

“No,” the tall black man says, his face twisting in anger. “You don’t.”

“It’s my fault you’re dead. I left you behind. And the minute I heard about that explosion, I thought, ‘I should have known.’ I should have protected you.”

Dean grabs for the gun lying behind him, but it goes flying across the room.

“Unh-unh. Not so fast. You think you left and Lilith came and we all died in a beautiful blast of . . . white light?” Henriksen scoffs. “If only. Forty-five minutes.”

Dean’s eyes widen. “What?”

“Over forty-five minutes,” Henriksen sneers. “Lilith said she wanted to have some fun. The secretary was first. Remember her? Nancy, the virgin. Lilith filleted Nancy’s skin off piece-by-piece. Right in front of us, made us watch. Nancy never stopped screaming.”

“No,” Dean says. He squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head. “No.”

“I was the last.”

“Victor . . .”

Henriksen reaches inside Dean’s chest and grips his heart. “Tell me how it’s fair,” he growls. “You get saved from Hell--I die. Why do you deserve another chance, Dean?”

Dean shakes his head. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I--”

Sam bursts into the room and shoots Henriksen, rushing to check on his brother as soon as Henriksen is gone. “You alright?” he asks.

“No.”

“Let’s go.” Sam helps Dean to his feet, and he and Dean carry the hex box and other ingredients to the library.

Ronald appears again as Dean is reloading his gun. “Ronald. Hey, come on, man. I thought we were pals.”

“That’s when I was breathing. Now I’m gonna eat you alive.”

“Well . . . come one, I’m not a cheeseburger.”

Dean cocks his gun and points it at Ronald, but he vanishes. Bobby recites some Latin words and the windows blow open, the wind that fills the room moving the salt so that they are no longer protected. Eliza appears and Andy quickly shoots her while Bobby continues to recite the spell. Ronald appears again and the boys shoot him, continuing to fire as the ghosts appear. Henriksen knocks Dean’s gun out of his hands while he’s reloading and approaches He grabs another gun and shoots it, only to find it empty, and Felix tosses him the iron rod so he can hit Henriksen.

A man in jeans and a band t-shirt appears in front of Felix and she makes a distressed noise, her hand shaking as she brings her gun up to shoot him. Meg appears and pushes Sam against the wall, trapping him there with a desk, which Sam tries to push away but with no success.

“Sam!” Dean exclaims.

“Cover Bobby!” his little brother grunts.

Bobby continues to recite the spell as Sam struggles against the desk, the two ghost girls sitting on the and waiting. Meg suddenly appears behind Bobby and plunges a hand into his back, causing him to drop the bowl with spell ingredients.

“Dean!” he shouts, as the eldest Winchester dives for the bowl. “Fireplace!”

Dean throws the bowl into the fire, which turns blue. The ghosts disappear and Bobby falls to the ground. “Bobby?” he asks when Sam finally pushes the desk away.

Felix and Dean help Bobby to his feet, who nods that he’s okay.

* * *

Later that night, Sam is asleep on the couch in Bobby’s living room while Felix is passed out at the desk, head buried in her arms. Andy is asleep on the floor nearby, next to Dean, and snaps awake at the sound of fluttering wings. She lifts her head to find Castiel standing in the kitchen and she nudges Dean awake, pointing to where the Angel is looking at them expectantly. Dean checks on Sam to see that he’s still asleep, Andy doing the same for Felix before they both walk over to join Castiel.

Dean notices immediately that the Angel looks a bit weary, his blue eyes tired, but he didn’t know that Angels could get tired.

“Excellent job with the Witnesses,” Castiel says.

“Wait, you were hip to all this?” Dean asks.

The Angel’s eyes shift from Dean, to the floor, then back to Dean. “I was, uh, made aware.”

“Well, thanks a lot for the Angelic assistance.”

“Dean,” Andy scolds. “The Angels have their own problems to deal with.”

“She’s right,” Castiel says.

“I almost got my heart ripped out of my chest!”

“But you didn’t,” and Dean frowns, because if that was the Angel’s way of making a joke then it wasn’t funny.

“I thought Angels were supposed to be guardians. Fluffy wings, halos--ya know, Michael Landon.” He crosses his arms against his chest. “Not dicks.”

Andy scoffs. “Have you ever read the Bible, Dean? Angels are Warriors of God. Castiel is a soldier.”

“Yeah? Well, then why didn’t he fight? Why didn’t he help us?”

“I’m not here to perch on your shoulder, Dean,” Castiel snaps, and the sound of his name on the Angel’s lips sent a shiver down Dean’s spine. “We have larger concerns to deal with.”

“Concerns? There were people getting torn to shreds down here!” he hissed angrily. “And, by the way, while all this is going on, where the hell is your boss, huh, if there is a God?”

“Of course there’s a God!” Andy protests at the same time Castiel replies, “There’s a God.”

“I’m not convinced. ‘Cause if there is a God, what the hell is he waiting for, huh? Genocide? Monsters roaming the earth? The freaking apocalypse? At what point does he lift a damn finger and help the poor bastards that are stuck down here?”

“The Lord works . . .”

“If you say ‘mysterious ways,’ so help me, I will kick your ass,” Dean snaps, and Castiel smirks, lifting his hands in surrender.

Andy wraps her arms around her body, staring at Castiel with the hint of fear in her eyes. “Are you saying Bobby was right about the Witnesses? That this is some kind of sign of the apocalypse?”

“That’s why we’re here. Big things afoot.”

Dean glances at Andy, then back at Castiel. “Do we want to know what kind of things?”

“I sincerely doubt it,” Castiel tells them, “but you need to know. The rising of the Witnesses is one of the sixty-six seals.”

“‘Kay, I’m guessing that’s not a show at SeaWorld.”

“Those seal are being broken by Lilith.”

“She did the spell,” Andy says, surprising Dean. “She rose the Witnesses.”

“Mm-hmm,” Castiel nods. “And not just here. Twenty other Hunters are dead as well.”

“Of course,” Dean mutters in realization. “She picked victims that the Hunters couldn’t save so that they would barrel right after us.”

“Lilith has a certain sense of humour.”

“Well, we put those spirits back to rest.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Andy says after a moment. “The seal was broken already. Right, Castiel?”

Castiel nods again.

Dean sighs, running a hand through his hair. “So why break the seal anyway?”

“You think of the seals as locks on a door.”

“Okay. Last one opens and . . .”

“Lucifer walks free.”

“Lucifer?” Dean says. “But I thought Lucifer was just a story they told at Demon Sunday school. There’s no such thing.”

“You didn’t believe in Angels until three days ago,” Andy replies, looking pointedly at Castiel, who is eyeing Dean curiously.

“Why do you think we’re walking among you now, for the first time in two-thousand years?”

“To stop Lucifer,” Dean breaths.

“That’s why we’ve arrived.”

“Well . . . bang-up job so far,” Dean scoffs. “Stellar work with the Witnesses. That’s nice.”

“We tried,” Castiel stressed. “And there are other battles, other seals. Some we’ll win, some we’ll lose. This one we lost.” Dean scoffs and the Angel steps towards him, blue eyes glowing with a hidden anger. “Our numbers are not unlimited. Six of my brothers died in the field this week. You think the armies of Heaven should just follow you around. There’s a bigger picture here.” Dean is starting to feel unnerved by the way Castiel is staring at him--maybe it’s because the goddamn Angel still hasn’t blinked yet. “You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in.”

Castiel vanishes before their eyes, leaving Andy and Dean alone in the kitchen. Later, Dean wakes up with a start. He instantly locks eyes with Andy, who had snapped awake beside him with a gasp.

Sam and Felix are already up and about, the redhead handing his little brother a mug of coffee as they come back into the living room.

“You alright?” Sam asks, noticing Dean’s startled expression. “What’s wrong, Dean?”

“So . . .” Dean asks, sitting up. “You go no problem believing in . . . God and Angels?”

Sam shakes his head, smoothing his bangs back from his face. “No, not really.”

“Does that mean you believe in the Devil, too?” Andy asks, and Felix eyes her girlfriend curiously.

“What’re you talking about? What’s with the questions?”


End file.
